RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

By the end of the war in 1918, more than 900 officers and soldiers from the regiment had lost their lives fighting for Queen and country.

A plaque has been unveiled at Birkenhead Town Hall, in Cheshire, and shows that 2,200 undersized recruits had joined the 1st and 2nd 'Bigland's Birkenhead Bantams' with four days of the war office reducing the minimum height for soldiers

MP Alfred Bigland's campaign to lower the minimum height for soldiers gained lots of media attention at the time, with newspapers such as the Daily Sketch featuring the petition (pictured)

THE BRAVE BIRKENHEAD BANTAMS

The Bantam battalions were first recruited in Cheshire following MP Alfred Bigland's petition, after he heard of a group of miners that had been rejected from every recruiting office on account of their size.

Soon renamed the 15th and 16th Battalions, Cheshire Regiment, the Bantams undertook gruelling training and served in some of the most hard fought battles of the war including Ypres and The Somme.

During WWI, two whole divisions, the 35th and the 40th, were formed from Bantams and tragically were virtually annihilated during the Battle of Ypres.

Heavy casualties and the introduction of conscripted men of all heights eventually led to Bantam unit becoming indistinguishable from other regiments.

The unit's centenary was marked at Birkenhead Town Hall attended by the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, veterans and members of the Armed Forces.

A plaque was unveiled revealing that 2,200 undersized recruits joined the 1st and 2nd 'Bigland's Birkenhead Bantams' in just four days.

Mayor of Wirral Cllr Steve Foulkes said: 'Birkenhead Town Hall has seen many important events but few can match the significance of those that unfolded in these very rooms exactly 100 years ago today.

'The story of those brave Birkenhead Bantams and their part in the history of the Great War is awe inspiring, and we owe them a debt we can never repay.

'We can, however, remember them, and make sure that their bravery and sacrifice is never forgotten - which is why this memorial and events such as this are so important.'